Riggs and Murtaugh Back on the Job for "Lethal Weapon...5"!?!?!?!?!?!

I just heard a potentially amazing bit of news this morning, that shows just how tapped out of original ideas Hollywood has become but at the same time conjures up happiness in my movie loving soul. Comingsoon.net is reporting that writer/director Shane Black secretly has worked on a spec script for Lethal Weapon 5. Black wrote the first film (best in the series) and also wrote/directed another recent favorite of mine, "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" with Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer. As far as I'm concerned, this guy is the Elvis of buddy action films; he created this beast that has spawned such films historically as "Lethal Weapon," "Midnight Run," and "Tango and Cash" to name a few. "Lethal Weapon" is one of the best franchises in cinema history, one where the characters actually stayed true throughout the series, even if all the movies weren't up to par. The first 3 films were all great in their own right, and though I thought LW4 was lacking and Chris Rock wasn't necessary, it was still able to tread water among the others. At least it didn't go totally south like other part 4's such as "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Shia LaBeouf" or "Batman and Robin."

So, if the original helmer of the franchise wants to take another crack at it, I'll be in line to see it on opening day. Mel Gibson is actually acting again, and the article mentions him and Danny Glover being up to it. I hope they can get Joe Pesci back also since he was the greatest addition to the franchise. Hopefully this has the same effect as John McTiernan coming back to the "Die Hard" series to direct "Die Hard With A Vengeance" after skipping out on the second film. If so, it has the potential to be one of the greatest films in the series and Riggs and Murtaugh will once again prove that they're not too old for this s***.

Here's a link to the article that broke the story: http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=47707

And if a sequel is what everyone is really itching for, then it's true what he says: "Whatever you want, Leo Getz!"